


Finally Broken

by Masky_Writer



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Blood and Injury, Broken Bones, Heavy Angst, Hospitalization, Hospitals, Mementos (Persona 5), Oni (Persona Series), Sakamoto Ryuji Whump, idk guess it should be there, if i missed a tag pls tell me, just had to hurt a boy tonight, this is hella whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:33:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23372482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Masky_Writer/pseuds/Masky_Writer
Summary: Ryuji Sakamoto prided himself in being able to continue to get back up even after he's been beaten down so many times, but now...He's not sure he can do that anymore.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 92





	Finally Broken

**Author's Note:**

> HOH I WROTE ALL THIS IN THE SPAN OF LIKE TWO HOURS YALL I JUST WENT I N

Ryuji couldn't breath. Not if he tried his hardest, he couldn't. Not when realization hit him like a train. 

It was just a quick mission to Mementos. To take out a few targets from the Phansite. To train a bit. To get stronger. Just a bit stronger to take on Futaba's palace better. _(her traps are a bit more then they expected, along with the Shadows that lumber around, like ghouls trapped inside the tomb.)_

But it got hairy far too quickly. Too quickly for Ryuji to catch up with. One of the targets, a monster of a man who decided that women's bodies belonged to him if he liked her face, who decided if they didn't give him what he wanted willingly he would take it with no remorse, turned into this gigantic Oni and that's where it all went down hill.

Ryuji, or Skull as he is now, was on the front line, with Joker and Queen _(new to the team. very useful. with a super badass persona, too. Johanna...so cool.)_ to his right, and Mona to his left. _("you know, Mona, I didn't take you for a healer." the cat simply scoffed and rolled his eyes. "someone has to be there to support you morons, especially you, Skull! your recklessness will get you killed one day!" Ryuji wasn't sure why, but he always thought that comment was a warning. an omen of what's to come. now? he wished he were dead.)_

He did as Joker ordered. He summoned Kidd, he powered Queen and Mona up for attack. _("we need that critical!" he exclaimed. Skull gladly followed the order. it's what he's good at.)_ He attacked with magic and force and his own guns and led pipe that's gotten him through stickier situations then this, but it all goes to shit when he gets reckless and jumps in front of an attack that aims for Joker. For Akira.

He can't have that happen. Skull can't have that happen. Ryuji can't have that happen. Can't have him be hurt when he can stop it. So he does what he always does. He doesn't think. He acts.

Skull shoves Joker out of the way and is slammed in the stomach by the Oni's giant iron club. Normally, he could take it. Normally, he could stagger but stay standing. But he's low on health. He's already so low on health. So he doesn't stagger. He doesn't stumble, but stay standing. 

He flies across the room far too fast, he slams against the living walls of Mementos, and he can't even scream because the wind is thrown out of him like someone ripped his lungs out far too quickly. Ryuji crumples, not Skull, not the strong Phantom Thief, Ryuji Sakamoto falls on the ground and gasps feebly for air like he's drowning. 

His vision blurs, and when he finally gets his voice back, when he's finally able to attempt to move, he screams like he's been murdered because the pain is intense. It's everywhere at once, but only one pain stands out.

Just one. A pain he dreaded to feel all over again.

His left leg, his left thigh right halfway upwards, _hurts._

_**It h u r t s.** _

He doesn't notice the battle end. He doesn't notice the Thieves completely abandon the Shadow that's begging for redemption for his actions. He doesn't notice them ignore the treasure that lays on the ground as they rush over to his side, bloodied and injured and god is he dying? He feels like he's dying. _(he'd like to be dying.)_

He feels the familiar warmth of Dia, the little magic Mona had left. Then he feels it again, letting him get enough strength to be assisted to sitting up, thanks to Queen being careful with her magic. 

Blurry eyes drift between the horrified looking thieves. They drift from a wide eyed Queen who's fists shake in fear at the injury before her eyes, to a shaking Mona because that can't be real he's seen human injuries that can't be real, to a stunned Fox who's fear could only be seen through the eye-holes of his mask, to a horrified Panther covering her mouth with tears brimming in the corners of her eyes because dear god it couldn't be no it couldn't be not again not to him, and finally land right in the middle. 

Right on Joker. On Akira. Who seems so desperate to keep his composure for his team, but he can't. Not at the sight he sees. "Ryuji..." Code-names be damned right now. He can't not see his best friend sitting in front of him. The best friend who looks so blank, like none of this has caught up with him.

Then he looks down.

Blood. Lots of it. He expected that. Bruises, heavy and large, blossom across tan skin like watercolor, exposed by the rips from skidding across the ground the way he did when he fell from the fucking wall he was slammed into. He expected those, too. _(they looked so pretty...)_

What he didn't expect, was bone. White and red and broken, sticking out of his upper thigh thanks to jagged edges that dug their way through skin and ripped right out of him.

His left upper thigh, right in the middle.

**Kamoshida's break.**

His breathing picks up. He can't stop looking at it. He can't stop replaying it in his mind. The jeers from his peers, the comment about his mother, the laughter that came from his teammates _(to save their own skins. they didn't want to piss off Kamoshida as well.)_ , the comment about how he'd always be his father, the pleasure, the pure pleasure and satisfaction, that came from socking that fucker right in the nose and breaking it, of watching him stumble back and blood trickle down his nose and chin, and Kamoshida grabbing him, and him being slammed into the floor, and him asking the track team for a bat, the metal one, and him raising his arms, with his foot firmly on Ryuji's spine as he told him this was his punishment, as he slammed it down and-

He screams. He backs up further into the wall, as if to get away from it, but he can't. He can't escape this. He can't escape the truth.

"No...nononono _no_ -" He chokes up halfway through with tears rolling down his face. "N-no I-it can't. Ann-Ann please I- _Ann I can't-_ " He begs for his friend. He feels leather gloves, he sees bright red _(not blood. they're not blood. there's no blood on her. good. she's okay. thank god. she deserves to be okay. she deserves to be safe.)_ and then arms are wrapped around him into a tight hug and he smells strawberries and it's so familiar.

_(they'd sit together, as middle schoolers, with new bruises blossomed across Ryuji's body and face, and angry red on Ann's cheeks from the tears she shed over the fact that her mother wouldn't be coming home this month as well. they'd sit and hug and relax because finally they're alone with people who understand.)_

His fingers frantically cling to her. He pulls his wide eyed, tiny pupil stare upwards to see his friends frantically talking but they all sound like they're underwater. He can't hear them. His ears ringing. He just clings to Ann, who holds him close and _(he assumes)_ tells him he's going to be okay. That it'll all be okay. He'll be fine. It'll be fine. Like it was before.

_(he's never been fine. how can he be fine now?)_

Finally, he feels himself surface as the pain starts to fade completely. He's in shock. He remembers that feeling well. _(for a moment they're in the gym. why are they in the gym? why's the track team here with the rest of the thieves? where did Kamoshida come from? he's so scary. why is he scary? he can't remember-)_

He feels Ann let go. He scrambles to hold onto her. Hold her closer. _(don't leave him please don't leave him he needs her please Ann please stay he's sorry he's so sorry Ann please let him apologize he shouldn't have left her and Shiho alone he knows this he knows he knows please-)_

Instead of Ann, and strawberry shampoo and pink perfume he never remembered the name of, it's Akira. It's Akira and coffee and paper from falling asleep on top of his school work and it's comforting and soft and he can't stop himself from pressing his face into his shoulder as he's carefully picked up and taking a deep breath of the comforting scent. It grounds him. He feels back in his body. But it doesn't hurt. It should, but it doesn't. 

He feels movement, and he starts to come back. He feels cushions underneath his butt and blinks himself back to life. He looks around at the others who are frantic. Yusuke is biting into his gloves as he tries to calm his nerves because there's truly nothing else he can do. Makoto is in the front, flooring it through Mementos, thankful for Morgana's lack of complaint at her force as he knows the urgency. Ann is at his side and oh his leg's stretched over her thighs and she's taking his ascot from around his neck to nervously press at the blood oozing out of the wound because what else can she do? _(she's fretting. if he were in his right mind, he'd call this cute.)_ But Akira...it's Akira that catches his eye. _(he always does.)_

He's staring from the front seat next to Makoto, keeping a close eye on the blonde. He says something about a hospital, and Makoto responds, but it all flies over his head because Akira looks so concerned for his safety. So worried about him. _(why? he's useless anyways. couldn't even take one hit. what a pain. he'll be booted from the team for this he's sure of it-)_

The rest of the hours, they're a complete blur to Ryuji. He can't exactly remember when they left Mementos, or what excuse Ann gave to the doctors that arrived at the train station to get the blonde to a hospital, or the fact that Akira and Ann managed to convince the paramedics that they were Ryuji's brother and sister to sit with him in the ambulance and tell him it'll be fine. He'll be fine.

By the time he wakes up, he's in a familiar spot that strikes fear through his heart. He's in a white room, with a window to his right _("it's nightime." he's able to note to himself)_. Underneath that is a couch, where two figure sit. Ann, with her pigtails loose and tangled from the constant running around and her eyes closed, and Akira, who leans against her and snores quietly, looking just as exhausted. Tilting his head to his left, he sees two chairs with two other figures in them. Only one is awake, and that's barely. Makoto texts on her phone quietly, as to not wake Yusuke who sits slumped forward with his arms on his thighs as he sleeps. Finally, he looks down at the foot of his bed _(hospital bed. not his bed. not his real bed surrounded by manga on the floor and clothes tossed around and a window to his left not his right. not his bed in his room with a towel shoved under the bottom of his door to stop it from being violently pushed open by-.)_ where he feels weight sinking in and notices Morgana sleeps there, curled up and tense.

Deciding it's time to make himself known, Ryuji starts to sit up and lets out a pained groan because wow that hurts like a bitch. He sees Makoto's head shoot up with a gasp as she smiles in relief. Tired but happy. "Ryuji! You're awake!" She says and wow that's the happiest he's heard Makoto since she joined the team.

Ryuji smiles, tiredly, right back at her as he shuffles a bit more, making Morgana meow in annoyance. "Are those doctors back...? I'm not moving!" He says firmly, before finally stretching and letting out a tired yawn before seeing Ryuji awake. Who knew cats could smile? "Ha! See? I told you he'd be okay!" He says proudly, marching his way further up the bed and dropping himself in Ryuji's lap, who blinks.

Morgana simply purrs in pride, and Ryuji can't help but smile as he runs a shaky hand down the cats spine, combing through his fur. He's soft. Morgana doesn't say a thing about the petting, about the animal treatment, he just lets Ryuji do as he pleases. _(the blonde can't help but feel grateful for the lack of questions.)_

The exclaim from the cat jolts Ann awake, who quickly wakes the other two with a loud "RYUJI!" Akira slams forward as Yusuke nearly falls out of his chair and Ryuji can't help but laugh out loud at the antics because that's just so like his friends-

He winces and groans as his laughs dissolve into coughs. "Y-yeah. Yeah shouldn't do that..." He mutters, but gladly leans into Ann's tight embrace, ignoring the pain that runs through his body. "So...did I miss anythin'?" He finally asks, and the laugh that escapes Akira makes him smile more.

"Only Makoto fretting as if she's your mom." He says with a teasing smirk, making Makoto's cheeks light up. "Akira, stop!" She says with a huff before turning to Ryuji. "I was simply...making sure the doctors were doing a proper job at taking care of you."

Ann, who sits on the edge of the bed now _(because she won't be leaving her friend to go sit on some shitty couch now will she?)_ , just grins at the brunette. "You were constantly telling them to be careful with him! You're such a mother sometimes, Makoto." She teases, making Makoto just huff and sit down in the chair. 

Yusuke's the one who turns the lights on in the hospital room, making Ryuji wince because wow that's bright. He forgot how bright hospital lights were. _(it made sense. they needed to look at all of you. every single bit. but ugh it's still too bright.)_ "Ryuji...how do you feel?" 

He's the first to ask, and the room sobers at that question. It makes the blonde fidget, and his fingers curl in Morgana's fur. _(he doesn't say anything. simply pushes himself further into Ryuji's hold and purrs louder. who knew he was so good at comforting people?)_ "Uh..." He cracks his neck and groans. "Might need to up the pain killers, but i'm fine."

That statement makes Ann grab his hand and run her thumb across the back. "No...no you're not..." She swallows at his curious look. She knows something he doesn't. Looking around the room, Akira decides to cut the new, heavy atmosphere with his voice like a dagger.

"Ryuji...your leg..." He starts slowly, trying to handle this properly, before taking a deep breath and looking the blonde in the eye. Grey stares into chocolate brown. "Your leg was broken too badly to fix. They...they had to amputate. The doctors."

And just like that, he's drowning again. He can't hear anyone else's words. He just stares down at his left leg, the leg that's pained him for so many years, before reaching down with a shaky hand.

Upper thigh's still there. Halfway's still there. But the lower he goes...the less he feels. Until his palm is flat with the bed and he stares blankly at the spot his leg would normally lay. Sure, it hurt. Kamoshida ruined his life. But at least he could still walk. He could still look that asshole in line and walk towards him and show him that even though he's knocked him down he could still fucking stand. But now...

A whimper escapes him, and Ryuji feels so small. So, so small. Like a child again, after the first punch he ever received from his father. He feels it. The shame, the pain, the fear, the sadness, all at once.

The sobs that escape him are heartbreaking as it all crashes down on him, as he realizes fully and completely that he's broken. He's fully broken. He's fully, and completely, broken.

It's a blessing that his mother opens the door to the hospital room _(that's who that empty chair at the foot of his bed was for.)_ , drops the cup of water in her hand, and rushes to her son. He doesn't notice Ann get off the bed, or Morgana hop off his lap as she wraps his arms around her son and he clings to her and suddenly he's a child all over again, sitting in his momma's lap, sobbing his poor little heart out as he asks her over and over again why daddy would hurt him like this. What he did wrong. 

_("oh Ryu..." she kisses his head and wipes his tears that continues to roll down his cheeks. "you did nothing wrong. don't forget that." he never believed her.)_

Maybe one day it would be okay, maybe one day he would be okay, but right now, right in this moment, in his mothers arms who tells him she's so sorry she wasn't there to help him, surrounded by his many friends _(new and old)_ who promise to build him back up, promise with all their hearts that they will help him _(like he's helped them recently)_ until he's okay.

_**Ryuji Sakamoto is broken.** _


End file.
